Pages

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

I'm not sure if this place is called Fish or Fish Period, since the restaurant always has a period of the end of fish, but it's a great place to eat. The restaurant is dedicated to sustainable seafood and organic produce from local farmers and fishermen. This isn't like other organic restaurants where they just throw farm produce on a plate and expect you to like it since it's fresh. The food here is prepared well and you can taste it. If you're in the area visiting Marin you should stop by and try the Crab Roll. The Crab Roll is their take on the Lobster Roll. Instead of Maine Lobster, it's sweet Dungeness Crab with melted butter and chives on a torpedo roll. Think of it as the West Coast version of a East Coast classic.

Fish. is located north of San Francisco across the Golden Gate Bridge at 350 Harbor Drive in Sausalito. It's just 30 minutes from the city, depending on traffic of course. They are open seven days a week from 11:30 am to 4:30 pm for lunch and 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm for dinner. Just FYI, they have a limited menu available during the hour the kitchen transitions from lunch to dinner. This place is cash or check only, no credit cards accepted. If you forgot your cash, they have an ATM inside.

Check out the specials...special drinks that is. Even the drinks are organic: organic peach bellinis and mimosas both served with organic villa teresa persecco. Please note that if you drink a little too much, the restrooms are around the corner, just follow the blue line on the ground.

Pick up a menu or look at the chalkboard while you wait in line. There are no reservations at this place, it's first come, first serve. The line moves fairly quickly, though if you get impatient you can order a drink at the bar and sip it while in line.

The specials change everyday, depends on what's available and what's caught on the line. The F/V on the board means Fishing Vessel. They know the name of the fishing boat, the captain, and how the fish are caught.

Look at the bar. Sustainable beer. Just kidding, but that was my first thought when I saw "Truly Sustainable Choices" over the taps. They have local beers on tap and a few out-of-town favorites. Good thing about the beer here is they have dark to light. A few of the notables: Guiness, Downtown Brown from Lost Coast Breweries, Anchor Steam, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, and Mission Blonde Ale.

There is ample seating inside. And the ATM is just around the bar by the second set of stools.

But why seat inside, when it's a great day outside?

Outside seating has two levels. One here at restaurant level and one at harbor level. This place is kid and dog friendly. Just keep an eye on yours if you bring them.

All the condiments you need. Malt vinegar for your fish and chips, hot sauce for your chowders, ketchup, salt and pepper for the fries. What else can you ask for?

We wanted to try a little bit of everything, so ordered a few sides to go with the crab roll and fish and chips. Of course, we couldn't forget our vegetables. We ordered the house green salad. This is organic mixed greens with a house made vinaigrette. Since we got so much food we settled for the half order. I was still surprised by the size of the plate. For a half-order it is big.

Clam dip with house-made potato chips. The house made potato chips were really good. They don't put too much salt, so you can salt the chips to your taste.

Their New England style Clam Chowder with potatoes, onions, celery, bacon, and clams. It isn't as creamy as some other chowders, but it is sweet like sweet corn. And I liked the small pieces of bacon in the soup, gives it a nice smoky flavor.

Ahhh, the main course, their famous Crab Roll. It's Dungeness Crab meat with organic whole butter (no low fat substitutes) and chives on a torpedo roll with french fries. The crab is outstanding. It's fresh, it's sweet and you can taste all that butter. And don't forget the large house-made lemonade. I recommend the large because a small lemonade is very small. You could drink a small in one gulp.

Need a close up of all that buttery crab goodness. They serve a lot of fries, so you might want to switch the fries out with a salad if someone is getting the Fish and Chips. I don't have anything against starch, but that is a lot of fries.

And the Fish and Chips. For this dish they serve wedge potatoes instead of the skinny, shoestring potatoes and the tartar sauce isn't from a store. They make it in house. All that to go with Anchor Steam beer battered halibut. This was fresh and tasty. Eu-jeania said she the only other place she tasted fish this fresh was in Bermuda. I haven't eaten in Bermuda, but I will say the fish was amazing.

All this great food, while watching the boats in the harbor on a sunny afternoon. What more would you want, except more about Fish.? You can click on link in the name Fish., call 415-331-3474 (FISH) or fax 415-331-3421.